Monday, November 26, 2012

Since there was no new Supernatural episode this week, this podcast is a special one dedicated to listener questions, theories, and feedback. Thanks to everyone who has responded to our ramblings. We really appreciate it. Please remember that many of our answers are just our own predictions. We have no special knowledge outside of spoilers posted. Also I apologize for my microphone shorting out in places. I'm working on alternatives. Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving week and we'll be back to our regular format next week for Hunteri Heroici.

Disclaimer - As always the opinions on this podcast are merely Lilith and/or Dahne's opinions. They do not reflect the fandom as a whole or SpoilerTV.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Today things look a little different. The podcast has been split up into 2 sections, mostly because we recorded the traditional part earlier this week than normal. The first section is first impressions and includes Tiptoe and Marissa's views about Castiel's role in the episode. The second part is the traditional podcast format.

Disclaimer - As always the opinions on this podcast are merely Lilith, Dahne, Tiptoe, and Marissa's opinions. They do not reflect the fandom as a whole or SpoilerTV.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

The brother bond is back! Woo hoo! Judging on fan reaction, I wasn't the only one to be pleasantly surprised by the lack of brother sniping in this episode. Plus we had Crowley snark so there are plenty of quotables. Don't forget to nominate your favorite 2 quotes for our ultimate quote game this summer. Also because I can never stop messing with the format of these posts, I've decided to add quick reviews at the end. These are only my opinions of course. Your mileage will vary.

Funny/Snarky quotes:

12. Crowley: "Presumptuous twit."
11. Crowley: "Nah, are all young people so horribly cynical? Depresses me Kevin. Here's the thing. I really want you to read the tablet because frankly this lot failed to inspire. However, better a stupid prophet than a stubborn prophet as they say it goes."
10. Justin: "You're aliens right?" Crowley: "Possibly a long shot. This mean anything to you?" Justin: "I don't read Chinese." Crowley: "Talk about the dumbing down of America."
9. Crowley: "I hope the ruckus down the hall wasn't too off putting. Construction standards aren't what they were during the Inquisition."
8. Crowley: "It's all very West Side Story but let's be logical. You look like hell and I should know. You're not up for this."
7. Sam: "You look like you've…well I was going to say you look like you've seen a ghost but you'd probably be stoked."
6. Crowley: "Well I suppose there's no reason to keep torturing you then." (Crowley stabs Samandriel again.) Crowley: "Sorry. Once you get going, it's really hard to stop."
5. Mrs. Tran: "I hired a witch." Kevin: "A witch?" Mrs. Tran: "Off of Craigslist. Her name is Delta Mendota and she is a smart cookie. She's scrappy, reliable, and she's willing to kill."
4. Crowley: "So, read any good tablets lately?"
3. Crowley: "Blah, blah, blah. Does anyone ever edit this stuff? So far as a writer God's a snooze. No fun at parties I hear."
2. Crowley: "Which Castiel is it this time? I'm never sure - madman or megalomaniac?"
1. Crowley: "Anyone else want to complain? Hmm."

Mytharc/Story-moving quotes:

12. Dean: "Hey you just drug me through the fire. Please tell me you know." Benny: "It's here. They promised." Dean: "Oh they? Well that's comforting."
11. Cas: "Heaven? I've never been here before." Naomi: "Not many have. My name is Naomi. We rescued you." Cas: "Purgatory." Naomi: "An excursion of angels which cost us many lives. Consider these chats your repayment."
10. Sam: "Why would demons want them?" Dean: "Why do demons want anything?"
9. Benny: "Putting a lot of trust in you brother." Dean: "You earned it." Benny: "I'll see you on the other side."
8. Kevin: "This one describes sealing the gates of hell." Crowley: "So it's true. It's there. Clearly humans can't possess this thing. What was God thinking? We'll get back to that. Just getting to the sexy part."
7. Kevin: "You just killed my mother." Crowley: "Very unfortunate but to be fair, she was plotting to kill me and my kind."
6. Cas: "Maybe you were lied to. Maybe there is no seam." Benny: "I lie. I don't get lied to. Aren't you guys all about faith?" Cas: "Not particularly."
5. Crowley: "Don't provoke my Kevin. You still have 9 fingers."
4. Crowley: "The power grid in heaven is so whacked out they don't even know you're not there. So on the count of 3. I…2…" (Crowley stabs Samandriel) Samandriel: "What happened to 3." Crowley: "I lied. I do that. Just give me the other names."
3. Naomi: "It's not your concern. Help the Winchesters. Come when they call. You will report in to me regularly and you will never remember having done so."
2. Cas: "Yeah angels instinctively know the names of every prophet, past, present and future." Dean: "So this list if the name of every one of them that exists?" Cas: "Yes until the next generation is born. Plus Kevin Tran of course. The other 7 are future prophets since uh only one can exist at a time."
1. Crowley: "There are more tablets. More than Leviathan and demon."

Emotional quotes:

8. Cas: "Hey, everything's not your responsibility. Getting me out of Purgatory wasn't your responsibility." Dean: "You didn't get out. So whose fault was it?" Cas: "It's not about fault. It's about will. Dean, do you really not remember?"
7. Dean: "Exactly. What? What the hell happened? Back there, Purgatory. I told you I would get you out. Okay we were there. It's like you just gave up. It's like you didn't believe we could do it. I mean you kept saying that you didn't think it would work. Did you not trust me?"
6. Dean: "I did everything I could to get you out. Everything. I did not leave you." Cas: "So you think this was your fault?"
5. Dean: "What the hell are you talking about?" Cas: "It's where I belonged. I needed to do penance for the things I did on earth and in heaven. I didn't deserve to be out and I saw that clearly when I was there. I…I planned to stay all along. I just didn't know how to tell you. You can't save everyone my friend although you try."
4. Dean: "I tried so damn hard to get us the hell out of there." Sam: "I know you did."
3. Dean: "You do see something severely wrong here right? Sammy I remember every second of leaving that place. I mean I remember the…the heat, the stink, the pain. Even the fear. I have that whole ugly mess right here and he says he has no idea how he got out. I…I'm just not buying it." Sam: "So you think he's lying?" Dean: "I'm saying something else happened. I saw the shape that he was in. I mean there was no way he was fighting his a** out alone. No way!" Sam: "Alright, so who or what got him out?" Dean: "Yeah exactly."
2. Dean: "You know I could have pulled him out. I just don't understand why he didn't try harder." Sam: "Dean…you did everything you could." Dean: "Yeah but why do I feel like cr**." Sam: "Survivor's guilt." Dean: "Hmm." Sam: "If you let, this is going to keep messing with you. You've got to walk past it."
1. Dean: "Save the Hallmark. It's gonna work. Nobody gets left behind."

Special Quote Awards:

Oh Kill Me Now Line: Dean: "Look I don't need to feel like hell for failing you okay. For failing you like I fail every other God forsaken thing that I care about. I don't need it."

I thought we left Guilt-Entrenched Dean in Purgatory. I thought we were getting new, improved, mature Hunter Dean this season. Let's stifle the guilt and go kill some evil. Besides this line is bound to start yet another round of who really failed whom in the fandom.

Best Answer to a Dropped Plot Line: Sam: "Uh how…how is Kevin a prophet if Chuck is a prophet?" Cas: "Not sure what happened to Chuck but um he must be dead."

And good riddance in my opinion. Here's to never having Chuck back. I still blame him for Becky and his two hideous meta episodes. In all fairness though, I did like him in The End and the actor who portrayed him is awesome.

Quote to Live By: Dean: "Save the Hallmark."

It's the season 8 version of "No chick flick moments." Oh how I wish the authors would remember this mantra. We went from scary cool mini-horror movie to emoangsty melodrama for a while there and we still haven't fully recovered yet. I'm hoping for an action-packed quest in the second half of this season.

Loading...

Review:

Critiquing A Little Slice of Kevin makes me feel like I have multiple personality syndrome. On one hand, we went an entire episode without a brother fight and only a tiny bit of snippy judgment. It was exactly what I needed on the brother level. We had Sympathy Sam who turned that sympathy to Dean. He listened. He consoled. He was almost like the Sam of the last 7 seasons. Hallelujah for on the spot characterization! We also got Honest Dean, in fact a Dean more honest than he usually is. He admitted his fear in Purgatory and recounted how painful it was for him and he had the conversation with Sam instead of a secondary character this time. That's the kind of maturing relationship I hoped for since Jeremy Carver proclaimed that the theme. Most importantly, it was the first time this season that I could glimpse the Supernatural I fell in love with. I understood where both brothers were coming from and I liked them. Gone were the douches inhabiting the Winchesters' bodies. The brother bond returned again. For that, this episode was an A to me.

However, we also got a return of one of its fatal flaws - secondary characters saving the day. Not that this has been lacking in season 8 at all. This time it was Castiel's turn. While Dean gets thrown by a demon, Cas palm waves him away. Cas saves Kevin and probably his finger. Yet the most glaring time was when the big confrontation was between Crowley and Cas and the brothers weren't even in the room. At least in episode 2 they got to be lovely wallpaper. It's time for Dean and Sam to become the heroes of their own story again. Of all the things I miss from the first 3 seasons, this is the biggest. Here's hoping for the second half of the season quest to give us solid Winchester wins. In the end, this episode gets a C+ and ranks as the third best of the season for me.

Previously - There was Garth, he hasn't grown on me no matter what Dean/Sam say, Sam still doesn't hunt, Amelia was still the only reason given, Dean was still in Purgatory, and a hunter and vampire hugged - yeah it's still weird. Dean beheaded Benny's lover and Sam gave Dean the death stare after meeting Benny.

Kearney, M0 - A man works under his car when his irate wife arrives. She thinks he’s having a fling with Sarah Alcott and kicks the jack out. Trapped under the car, she drives over him. It's a SPN PCA reminding you to be faithful. Drug by a car until dead isn’t pretty. The title card flashes and Flo brings cheeseburgers from Fat Mack's Bar-B-Q Rib Shack. Unfortunately seeing the brothers, she makes a hasty retreat. Even Flo can't figure out why the brothers are acting this way. Dean found a case while Sam placed the order and the brothers snipe at each other because hey why break pattern? Plus they didn't talk after Benny so hello Brother Fight, Round 33. Sam: "How about because you haven't said a word to me since Prentiss Island and now what? You want me to shut up and ride shotgun and act like nothing happened?" Dean: "You want to talk about Benny. Fine. Let's talk." Sam: "Okay. How about he's vampire." Dean: "He's also the reason I'm topside and not roasting on a spit in Purgatory. Anything else?" Sam: "Don't pretend I don't get it. I know you had to do what you had to do down there." Dean: "I highly doubt you get anything about Purgatory." Sam: "But you're out now and Benny's still breathing. Why?" Dean: "He's my friend Sam." Sam: "Uhhh, and what about my friend, Amy? She was what? Because you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her." Oh Sam you didn't. We had a pact to never mention the Pointless Subplot of 2011 ever again. Besides, it's not the same thing. Amy killed people. You don't know if Benny has. In fact since you forgot Benny's remarkable resemblance to Eli the vamp who kidnapped you, you know nothing about Benny. What happened to Sam, who always advocated that they aren't monsters until they kill humans? Oh that's right, Flo is hiding from the brothers this season.

Instead of highlighting the obvious difference between Benny and Amy, Dean says people change. Not always for the better as season 8 proves. He brings up letting Kate go from another sucky episode, Bitten (huge sigh). Sam: "She was different. She…You think Benny's different? Huh, he tell you he's not drinking live blood or something? And you believe him. Wow! Okay. No you're right. People do change." Again not sure why Sam suspects Benny without proof to the contrary but we move on to the first of 9 billion "you left me" comments tonight. Dean: "Yeah, I've got a vampire buddy and you turned your phone off for a year." Sam: "Don't turn this on me." Dean: "Look. If Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it." Sam: "But it's not going to be you right?" Now that is shocking. I know Dean wouldn’t want to kill Benny but if he knew Benny killed people I'd still expect him to do it. He's mademany hard choices before. After probably the world's most awkward car ride, the brothers arrive at the crime scene in Missouri. Dean exposits. Sam thinks it sounds more crazy than supernatural and calls Dean on it. Sam: "So how's that make this our kind of thing?" Dean: "Because Sam, Kevin's in the wind okay? You're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse and I can't help but ask myself when is decapitation not my thing."

Things get worse because Garth's back and wearing the most hideous clothing item ever to grace a SPN scene. The tassled leather jacket doesn't say Texas Ranger as much as it says Sonny and Cher. Why we get Garth fanning himself in slow mo I’ll never know. Sam makes me laugh with his deadpan: "I forgot he was a hugger." Bwah! Garth makes me nostalgic - "You guys have no idea how much I missed you." I still do. Now can I please get my brothers back? Dean: "Texas Ranger Garth? Seriously. We're in Missouri." Ha! Garth: "What? Come on. I'd look like a funeral director in one of those." Love the brothers' looks here. Finally they agree on something. Garth is interrupted by a phone call where he gives advice about taking out a revenant. Dean is particularly harsh about Garth's sudden turn from monster bait to competency but Sam breaks my heart with the worst line in this hot mess. Sam: "Hold up. Are you the new Bobby?" Noo!! How dare they sully Bobby's memory with a joke of a character I can barely tolerate? Jeremy Carver, you go too far! I'm with Dean here. "You shut your mouth." Garth says someone needed to take up the slack after Bobby died, and I am perfectly fine with him answering phones and doing research even if it’s a major jump in competency in one year. However Garth will never ever BE Bobby. Thankfully the case continues so I can fume in silence. They interview Scott Lew, the opening couple's son, who says nothing was weird with his parents. There's no EMF or sulfur but there’s a suddenly logical Garth and green goo. Not sure how they missed it until Garth literally stepped in it. Garth scrapes it off his shoe and licks it. Gross! Surely they can tell it’s ectoplasm without a taste test. The brothers obviously agree with me.

The coroner calls Garth to say Alcott was carved into the dead guy's chest with his wife's fingernails. So it's off to the psych ward where I’m suddenly leery since Dean already killed this woman in Croatoan. I can’t decide between zombie or the PTB feel they know better than fans when ALL evidence this season clearly shows they do not. The PTB think we're idiots wins out as Mary Lew claims uncontrollable rage filled her but she can't remember details. Perhaps Dr. Ellicott has rejoined this season too. Garth busts into laughter when she says she only remembers bits and pieces. Amazingly both brothers are mature enough to silently tell him to knock it off and Mary continues her prom disappointment story. Apparently Chester took Alcott to prom instead and Mary still isn’t over it. Oh kill me now! Dean agrees, "So let me get this straight. This poor guy goes to prom with some girl over 30 years ago and because of that he is now a pancake." Since no one actually cares about this case, it's food time where Garth pries into Dean's life. Dean admits he was in Purgatory and when Garth asks how he got out, Sam gives Dean the most concentrated ticked off face of his career even surpassing the one after meeting Benny. That's a feat! Dean changes the subject by asking about the Confederate flags hanging on the wall. Garth schools us on the Civil War but since Glass can't research, he conveniently forgets that Kearney is in northwest Missouri not the southern border. He claims the people of Kearney harbor big nostalgia for the Confederacy even though only 20 families lived there at the time, absolutely no Civil War battles took place there, and the only violence was 2 homes burning. I've lived in Missouri for 38 years. Trust me; we're over the Civil War. Bah! My eyes hurt from rolling so much! He should have stuck with Jesse James. He was born and buried in Kearney and was betrayed by one of his own gang members. See, you can still use all those anvils and be historically accurate.

The scene is saved when we learn Garth was a dentist before hunting. I am hard pressed to know why anyone would let such a goofball near their teeth, however the story about him ganking the tooth fairy was awesome! Of course since this is the first time I've found Garth remotely interesting, we switch to Scott Lew who’s at the Quick Mart before visiting his mom. Seeing Jeff, a random annoying dude, brings on an asthma attack and a shot off the inhaler later, Scott has green goo in his ear. He throws hot coffee on Jeff and decapitates him with a shovel before the security camera flashes a picture of a dead soldier. Great! Please don’t let my new inhaler be haunted. Dean and Sam are similarly confused. Dean: "So first mom goes Natural Born Killer and now his son." There's a flat joke about not knowing what an Oedipus complex is which irks me since Dean obviously knew classic literature in Sex and Violence. Sam sees Sussex written in blood, Garth steps in ectoplasm again, and Dean interrupts exposition to ask if Garth is wearing Bobby's hat. Garth: "Oh yeah. It sure is. We worked a rugaru case together a few years back. He left it in my car so I kept it as a memento." Dean yanks the hat off his head and Garth looks hurt. I’d feel sorry for him but I'm so irked with the writing staff I can't. After seeing the video footage, Sam sticks Dean with Garth to go interview Alcott. I laugh because it's such a brother thing to do and we get a Sam smirk instead of brother emosniping with it. Alcott adds nothing to the case. She was only with Chester on prom night. Basically it's just an excuse to split the brothers up and I'm fine with that. Less fighting that way.

Sam leaves Alcott's, a dog barks and boom we’re in flash back. Doesn't take much these days. Panning Amelia's empty liquor bottles, her liver must look like Dean's. I'm not sure if time has passed since last week's snipe fest, but things are cozier now. Sam and Amelia are in bed together. Bet some fans call foul since Sam wears a white t-shirt. It's clearly their first time together and Amelia explains that her husband Don died in Afghanistan. She left to escape pity. I like this Amelia a lot better than previous versions. Amelia: "So I moved here and became even more of a hot mess than I already was and you hit a dog." First, shout out to Lilith. Second, Sam and Amelia need a bigger plot. No time though because it's the Dean and Garth research show now. Garth reaches for a beer. Dean: "Easy there flyweight. Last time you drank a beer, I had to pick you up off the floor." Bwah!!! Too bad it's all downhill now. Garth: "You're such an idjit." What?!?! No! Garth doesn't get to say idjit. It's Bobby's and the fact Garth uses it makes my dislike for him and Adam Glass grow. Unacceptable! Thankfully Dean calls him on it before my TV is assaulted by flying remotes. Garth misinterprets Dean's disgust for the brother rift and pushes too far. Garth: "Alright just uh…just lettin' you know that I'm here for ya'. For anything. I know sometimes Bobby, he was." Does Garth really think Dean will open up to him? Does he really think he’s earned the trust Dean gave Bobby? SHUT UP GARTH!!!! If I cursed, the whole house would be blue now. Dean instead slams down the beer. Dean: "You're not Bobby, okay. You're never gonna be Bobby so stop!" Garth: "Bobby belonged to all of us Dean, not just you and Sam. I'm just taking what he showed me and trying to do something with it. That's all." Sorry Garth. All you do is disgust me now. Please get off my screen. While I still feel the need to slap Garth, Dean looks guilty and says in a much calmer voice: "Why don't you see if you can find something in that bourbon-drenched book of his so we can get the hell out of Dixie?"

Dean finds out Decapitated was Scott's partner in a bankrupt business called Sussex. Sam calls but nothing happened at Alcott’s. Dean: "Besides the fact this is making my head hurt, how does this add up to a ghost?" And it's Bobby to the rescue. Well his journal. Green ectoplasm means spectre, an avenging ghost that forces you to act on betrayals. It joined the living when idiotic kids broke into the Confederate Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is in Mississippi by the way. You know a state with lingering pride in the Confederacy. There's also one in Kentucky, but not Missouri. Garth knows about the tomb because he's a Civil War enactor. Dean stares blankly at him. Garth: "Don't hate." Ha! Best Garth line of the night. They plan to salt and burn tonight - yeah! I love an old-fashioned salt and burn. Sam is less than excited. Sam: "Yeah burn a Confederate soldier's bones in a town full of rednecks? Sure." I stop laughing only when we get beautiful Impala porn rumbling into the cemetery at night. By the way, nice shiny new Confederate tombstones there show. There's about 40 of them, more than lived in Kearney by the end of the war. Just saying. Sam remarks about the mausoleum’s pristine condition, but gets distracted by a string on the floor. For a minute I thought it meant more flash backs but instead it has actual importance in a nod to My Heart Will Go On. The corpse is remarkably cobwebby and dusty for being desecrated 3 days ago. Garth wonders if spectres are toasted by bone torching. Dean: "It's a ghost isn't it? Burn its bones; ghost disappears." Since we're only 24 minutes in, I'm guessing it won't. Dean starts to light the match but Garth stops him. Garth: "I kind of feel like we should say something alright? Don't you? Just a little…" Dean gets the okay look from Sam and bam, best line of the night. Dean: "Sure. We won." He lights to match and we get another great shot of a Winchester by flame light. I've missed that.

Back at the police station, the sheriff wants a deputy to do his paperwork. I sense this will not end well. Scott Lew has an asthma attack so the deputy goes for his inhaler and then there's green goo. One shotgun later and bye bye sheriff. Dean sees the goo. "Maybe we torched the wrong redneck." Ha! Sam counters that it may be like Bobby's flask. Oh show, you don't want me thinking about Bobby. Not with the Garth mockery. Sam interviews the deputy asking what happened after he “shot the sheriff." I can’t be the only one who responded, "But you didn't shoot the Deputy." Deputy Carl took his gun to the hospital, complete with ghost mummy reflection. This time Dean’s on his own and Garth with Sam. Garth pushes his way into Sam's business too because apparently he didn't learn better with Dean. Garth: "I mean it just seems like you and Dean are talkin' but nobody's listenin'….." Sam responds by ignoring Garth for another flash back. Cause? Who knows? The sun maybe or a natural instinct to protect himself from Garth's yammering. The morning after, Amelia flips out again. She heads out the door and tells Sam to lock up, embarrassed about her possibly drunken confession the night before. Sam’s confused but Amelia thinks he pities her now and scoots out the door leaving Sam bewildered. I'm bewildered about this flash back’s placement but Sam looks fabulous in it. Garth snaps him out his dream and a librarian theorizes about the unknown soldier's identity. Because you know, he's unknown.

Meanwhile we jarringly switch from the library to the hospital where Deputy Carl shoots a window due to a call at a local ball game. Really? Whatever! The dialogue’s terrible too. "Why am I gonna make mustard from your brain stem? I don't know." I don't know how that line got past editors. Luckily the shotgun is out of ammo and Dean punches Carl. Unluckily, the spectre possessing him is strong. Back at the library, Annie chucks 1 ton anvils at my head. The spectre is Vance Collins, whose brother shot him during the Civil War. You might call it a brother rift. One anvil must have hit me hard because I swear Sam was incredulous that brothers fought on opposite sides in the Civil War. Sam, who proved he paid attention in history during the Croatoan episode. My eyes are so tired they can't even roll anymore. Vance swore vengeance on his brother. His brother buried him in Kearney. I buy the writers a map and a Don't Know Much about US Geography and History book set. Oh and a copy of Supernatural seasons 1-7 DVDs. After all these are the same people who said Sam didn't look for Dean and who think you can drive from Lawrence, Kansas to Joliet, Illinois in a couple hours. Let's head back to the hospital; I'm concussed. Dean: "Carl, listen, I know the spectre's turning that temperature up in there so just tell me what the object is and we'll send this joker home." Carl creeps me out by smelling Dean and saying how the spectre likes him. Dean: "Oh yeah. Why don't you tell him to come out here? We'll make promise bracelets." Carl responds by throwing Dean across the room and pressing a penny in his hand. Coincidentally, the librarian just told Sam and Garth the penny was a luck piece and Sam realizes the kids stole it from the grave. Sam calls Dean about it but obviously he's not quite himself right now and doesn't pick up.

Sam finds Dean at the motel, yelling at him for not answering his phone. Dean promptly pulls his gun on Sam. Dean: "You should have looked for me when I was in Purgatory." Sam sees green goo and realizes Dean's under the spectre's spell but not before we recap the show so far. Really? I am not an idiot despite what the writers think. I can follow a 42 minute story and fill in the gaps. I don't need to see every single person touch the freaking penny. The only saving grace is the Soundgarden's Fell on Black Days soundtrack and it briefly halts Brother Fight, Round 34. Dean: "You never even wanted this life. Always blamed me for pulling you back into it." Sam: "That's not true." Dean: "Really? Cause everything you've ever done since you've climbed into my ride has been to deceive me." Sam: "What do you want me to say? That I made mistakes. I've made mistakes Dean!" Garth: "That's not Dean, Sam." Dean: "Shut up! Mistakes, hhh. Well let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits. Drinking demon blood, check. Being in cahoots with Ruby. Not telling me that you lost your soul or how about running around with Samuel for a whole year, letting me think that you were dead while you were doing all kinds of crazy. Those aren't mistakes Sam. Those are choices." Hrrmm. Demon blood and Ruby, yeah those were on Sam….4 freaking years ago. He's since redeemed himself. RoboSam though I don't agree with. Perhaps the spectre pulls out hurts instead of betrayals. RoboSam wasn't real Sam so you can't hold Sam responsible for those actions. Dean himself continually told Sam that in the last half of season 6. Second brother speech tonight that doesn't hold up, see Amy earlier. Sadly it's not the last either. Sam: "Alright, you've said it. We both played a little fast and loose." Dean: "Yeah I might have lied but I never once betrayed you. I never once left you to die and for what? A girl. You left me to die for a girl!" Sam grabs for the gun and the brother fight is on. Glass and furniture break.

Sam goes down and Dean aims the gun at him again. Garth steps between them, assuring Sam that Dean won't shoot him because spectres don't work that way. Dean tells Garth to move. Garth: "Come on Dean. You do not want to kill your brother. You…you've been protecting him your whole life. Don't stop now." Dean: "He left me to rot in Purgatory." Garth: "Alright, alright, maybe he did. I don't…I don't know. I wasn't there but I'm sure he had his reasons." It would be nice if we knew those reasons. I want normal and love a woman doesn’t cut it writers. Sam counters: "Just like you had your reasons for Benny." Um Sam? I know you're ticked but use those Sam smarts. A ghost-possessed Dean is pointing a gun on you and unlike in Asylum when you were possessed by Ellicott, this gun has actual bullets. Refrain from ticking him off further. Dean: "Benny's been more of a brother to me this past year than you've ever been. That's right. Cas let me down. You let me down. The only person who hasn't let me down is Benny." ARGH!!! Yes Cas and Sam betrayed Dean but gah this fight wrecks me and it is definitely going to wreck the fandom. Brother wars here we come! Sam's done so much to redeem himself it's aching to see the past brought up AGAIN. Plus this conversation spells doom for Benny. It pretty much guarantees the character will go bad so Dean eats his own words. I DON'T WANT ANOTHER RUBY!!! This season may be my end. We've done that plot in seasons 4 and 6 and both times it did nothing for me. I'm not sitting through it again.

Garth tries to talk Dean down but no dice so he lays Dean out in one punch. Something Sam couldn't do 2 minutes earlier. WHAT? GIVE ME A BREAK! Garth picks up the penny but his super-calm meditation skills renders him immune to it. He melts the coin down and mercifully packs to leave. Not soon enough for my taste and not before I want to throttle him again. Garth: "Now there's something I want to say to you. Stop being a idjit. With Bobby dead, you and Sam are all each other has and that's not so bad man." Stop saying idjit Garth before I start actively rooting for your demise. Dean gives Garth back Bobby's hat (and if that means I should accept Garth as a Bobby substitute, they've sadly mistaken this fan's loyalty) as Garth talks to a hunter about wendigos. His car stalls and I'm suddenly afraid he won't leave. Gratefully it starts and we're done with Garth for at least 12 episodes I hope. Just in time for another Sam flash back. Sam knocks on Amelia's door. Sam: "I don't pity you. Okay, I don't. You and I, we're a lot of things but we're not to be pitied. Look I lost my brother, Dean, a few months ago. It felt like my world imploded and came raining down on me and I ran just like you." It did? Good. I haven't gotten that in the context yet. Maybe the writers could show this raw emotion or even make it seem like you're glad Dean escaped Purgatory. They've got your character so screwed up Flo is leaving Vancouver as a whole to avoid this mess. Amelia says Sam's pep talk failed as now she pities Sam. However she lets him in and they presumably talk.

Dean interrupts Sam's good memories and all hell breaks loose again. Sam: "For the record, the girl, her name's Amelia. Amelia Richardson. She and I had a place together in Kermit, TX." Dean: "Look man I don't even remember what I said but uh…" Sam: "But what? You didn't mean it. Oh please. You and I both know you didn’t need that penny to say those things." I'm glad Sam called Dean on their typical "It was the (fill in the blank) not me" junk. Dean should have called Sam out in Asylum and they both should have been called out in Sex and Violence. Nothing is resolved when they claim to understand but instead it festers. Dean: "Look Sam…" Sam: "Own up to your cr** Dean. I told you from the jump where I was coming from, why I didn't look for you, but you…you had secrets. You had Benny and you got on your high and mighty and you've been kicking me ever since you got back. But that's over. So move on or I will." Just like Dean's speech, I have issues with this one. Sam absolutely should not take Dean's sniping. If for no other reason than maybe we won't hear it every single episode. Purge it in a big screaming match and move on. Stil, Sam never gave Dean a good reason for not looking for him. He said he wants normal. He said he fell in love. Neither explain why he didn’t even try. He didn't meet Amelia coming out of Dick's corporation so what the heck did he do in between. Dean hasn't heard the implode comment. He only knows Sam didn’t bother to look. Now's a great time for Sam to articulate what was going on because if I as the audience don't understand, it's for sure Dean doesn't. As for the rest of Sam's speech, I agree 100%. Dean should have told Sam about Benny. He should know by now that Winchester secrets make all things worse, especially given his attitude with Sam since episode 1 this season..

At this time, I want the brothers to start swinging. Have a huge parking lot brawl; get out all the frustration and rage and bitterness. Then we'd be done with the whole mess and the brothers could heal. Instead we get nothing. No resolution. No hope things will be better. Just threats. I am so done with this brother rift. Dean: "Okay. I hear you." Sam: "Good. You know what hear this too. I just might be that hunter who runs into Benny one day and ices him." Why bring this up now Sam? Why? This isn't even in character for you to judge Benny with no evidence. Thanks Jeremy. You can't stop screwing up my favorite characters can you? Dean: "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it won't we." Sam: "Yeah. Yeah you keep saying that." So in the end nothing got resolved. We heard the same arguments we've been hearing repeatedly. It's ridiculous and old. For the first time ever, I honestly think the brothers should separate for a couple of episodes. Sam obviously needs to see Amelia and get things resolved. Yes he will have to be honest about his family and what he's been doing, but at least he can find either balance or closure. His pining for her is a fatal distraction while hunting and a block in his relationship with his brother. Dean needs to kill a lot of things and manage his PTSD. If he keeps sniping at people, someone will shoot him and I wouldn't blame Sam if it's him. There's times I want to either shoot or slap him too. Both need a reason to work together or go solo because this doesn't work for anyone. Perhaps absence will make them remember why they gave everything for each other, why family is vital to them. Hunting together out of obligation is killing them, me, and this show. I demand a rewrite!

Grade: 4

Scorecard - Here's how the rankings break down in my scorecard.

1 = One of the best episodes in all of Supernatural, or in all of TV for that matter.
2 = A great episode when judged against other Supernatural episodes.
3 = A good Supernatural episode, which means it's better than almost anything else on TV
4 = An okay episode when judged against other SPN episodes, meaning still better than most TV.
5 = A poor episode, meaning only better than some TV.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

For the first time Lilith and I gave the episode the same grade and it wasn't favorable. For Lilith it was a typical Adam Glass meh affair. For me, it was a major disappointment since nothing was resolved and there was no forward movement on anything. Basically neither of us are fond of season 8 so far and that's wearing on us both now and you can tell in this podcast. Here's hoping you liked it better than we did. Feel free to sound off in the comments below.

Disclaimer - As always the opinions on this podcast are merely Lilith and/or Dahne's opinions. They do not reflect the fandom as a whole or SpoilerTV.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

I really dislike this episode and even more every time I rewatch it. It's the same argument over and over again and nothing gets better. It's gotten to the point where I think the brothers should split up for a little while and remember why they hunt together in the first place. It's beyond time to repair this brother rift. Still this episode did have some good quotes so let's get right to it. Oh and since there was not one thing that moved this storyline forward, I've changed that section from "Story-moving" to "Plot" quotes. I also added a section just for this episode.

Funny/Snarky quotes:

8. Dean: "Besides the fact this is making my head hurt, how does this add up to a ghost?"
7. Amelia: "I don't know. You want to talk about it." Sam: "Last night?" Amelia: "No Dean, you pervert."
6. Carl: "I don't think so. There's unfinished business thanks to you. Oh the spectre likes you." Dean: "Oh yeah. Why don't you tell him to come out here. We'll make promise bracelets."
5. Dean: "Maybe we torched the wrong redneck."
4. Dean: "Easy there flyweight. Last time you drank a beer, I had to pick you up off the floor."
3. Dean: "Texas Ranger Garth? Seriously. We're in Missouri."
2. Sam: "I forgot he was a hugger."
1. Garth: "I kind of feel like we should say something alright? Don't you? Just a little…" Dean: "Sure. We won."

Plot quotes:

6. Amelia: "So I moved here and became even more of a hot mess than I already was and you hit a dog."
5. Garth - "So Dean, give me the skinny. Where were you last year?" Dean: "Why don't we save what I did on my summer vacation for another time?" Garth: "Aww come on." Dean: "Alright. I was in Purgatory."
4. Garth: "Bobby was gone. You two were MIA. It was a weird time. Somebody had to step in and take up the slack. Alright, let's just get back to work and we'll talk about this later alright?" Dean: "Did Garth just tell us what to do?"
3. Garth: "I mean it just seems like you and Dean are talkin' but nobody's listenin'….."
2. Dean: "Because Sam, Kevin's in the wind okay? You're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse and I can't help but ask myself when is decapitation not my thing."
1. Dean: "What? You….you were a dentist?" Garth: "Yeah just like a hot minute. Where'd you think I got my first case?' Dean: "Let me guess. Tooth fairy." Garth: "Yeah. Man I felt terrible when I ganked that SOB." Sam: "You killed the Tooth Fairy." Garth: "Yeah man. It's not my proudest moment but it happened."

Emotional quotes:

12. Dean: "I guess people change don’t they? Hmm we let that werewolf Kate go." Sam: "She was different. She…You think Benny's different? Huh, he tell you he's not drinking live blood or something? And you believe him. Wow! Okay. No you're right. People do change."
11. Sam: "I don't pity you. Okay, I don't. You and I, we're a lot of things but we're not to be pitied. Look I lost my brother, Dean, a few months ago. It felt like my world imploded and came raining down on me and I ran just like you."
10. Sam: "Alright, you've said it. We both played a little fast and loose." Dean: "Yeah I might have lied but I never once betrayed you. I never once left you to die and for what? A girl. You left me to die for a girl!"
9. Garth: "Bobby belonged to all of us Dean, not just you and Sam. I'm just taking what he showed me and trying to do something with it. That's all."
8. Sam: "Come on Dean. I know it's not you in there pulling the strings." Dean: "Shut up. Don't. You never even wanted this life. Always blamed me for pulling you back into it." Sam: "That's not true."
7. Dean: "Yeah, I've got a vampire buddy and you turned your phone off for a year." Sam: "Don't turn this on me." Dean: "Look. If Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it." Sam: "But it's not going to be you right?"
6. Sam: "Own up to your cr** Dean. I told you from the jump where I was coming from, why I didn't look for you, but you…you had secrets. You had Benny and you got on your high and mighty and you've been kicking me ever since you got back. But that's over. So move on or I will."
5. Dean: "Shut up! Mistakes, hhh. Well let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits. Drinking demon blood, check. Being in cahoots with Ruby. Not telling me that you lost your soul or how about running around with Samuel for a whole year, letting me think that you were dead while you were doing all kinds of crazy. Those aren't mistakes Sam. Those are choices."
4. Sam: "I don't know Dean. How about because you haven't said a word to me since Prentiss Island and now what? You want me to shut up and ride shotgun and act like nothing happened?" Dean: "You want to talk about Benny. Fine. Let's talk." Sam: "Okay. How about he's vampire." Dean: "He's also the reason I'm topside and not roasting on a spit in Purgatory. Anything else?" Sam: "Don't pretend I don't get it. I know you had to do what you had to do down there." Dean: "I highly doubt you get anything about Purgatory." Sam: "But you're out now and Benny's still breathing. Why?" Dean: "He's my friend Sam."
3. Garth: "Come on Dean. You do not want to kill your brother. You…you've been protecting him your whole life. Don't stop now."
2. Dean: "You should have looked for me when I was in Purgatory."
1. Dean: "You're not Bobby, okay. You're never gonna be Bobby so stop!"

"Oh Just Kill Me Now" Quotes:

6. Dean: "He left me to rot in Purgatory." Garth: "Alright, alright, maybe he did. I don't…I don't know. I wasn't there but I'm sure he had his reasons."
5. Dean: "Benny's been more of a brother to me this past year than you've ever been. That's right. Cas let me down. You let me down. The only person who hasn't let me down is Benny."
4. Dean: "He's my friend Sam." Sam: "Uhhh, and what about my friend, Amy? She was what? Because you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her." Dean: "I guess people change don’t they?"
3. Sam: "Good. You know what hear this too. I just might be that hunter who runs into Benny one day and ices him." Dean: "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it won't we." Sam: "Yeah. Yeah you keep saying that."
2. Garth: "You're such an idjit."
1. Sam: "Hold up. Are you the new Bobby?"

In a shipyard in Eagle Harbor, Washington, Benny strolls in a spiffy sailor hat. He finds Quentin who's visibly stunned to see him. It's not every day you run into the vampire you helped behead. Benny asks where the Old Man is but Quentin's not talking and he has backup. Benny snarks before beheading them all. The title card flashes as we're in Enid, Oregon with the Bickerson brothers. It's sad when I'd rather watch secondary characters than the Winchesters, but give me multi vamp ganking versus bickering any day. The brothers are chasing Kevin Tran, and the teen is winning - argh! Where's my smart brothers? They follow his credit card trail to a motel he obviously never stayed at. The brothers bicker as Dean raids the minifridge. Dean: "The kid's like Rain Man. He's like a cr** little credit card counting, criminal prodigy Rain Man." Sam: "Well he was in Advanced Placement." That's no excuse. You outmaneuvered the King of Hell. They argue about Dean trying to kill the Crowley-possessed Mrs. Tran until Dean gets a phone call. Dean: "Hold that thought. No actually, don't hold that thought." Thank goodness. It was vexing. Dean heads outside on the premise of not having enough bars. Really he doesn't want Sam to hear this conversation. Benny's on the phone in terrible shape. Benny: "Hey Dean, you um…you got a minute? 'Fraid I messed up buddy." Dean: "What did you do?" Benny: "No man, not like that." Sam looks out the window as Dean finishes his call. Benny: "I was kind of hoping maybe I could ask ya' for one more favor." Suddenly Dean packs and Sam is fit to be tied. Sam: "And…and what exactly's that supposed to mean, 'You've got to go?" Dean: "Which words are giving you trouble." Sam: "We're on the case, remember Dean. The…the Winchester Holy Grail, shut the gates of hell forever case." Dean: "Sure are but in order to close the gates of hell we need our prophet. Am I right? So step 1 - find Kevin Tran. Well he ain't here but he wanted us to be which means we're probably as far away from him as he could possibly put us so Step 2 - Find Kevin Tran. You mind if I take the Toberlone?" Bwah! Nice tension break. Alas it doesn't last. Sam: "Wait…Dean, seriously?" Dean: "Hey the trail is dead but the room is paid for. You got some research to do and I've got some personal cr** I've got to take care of. That's all." Sam: "What does that mean, 'personal?'" Dean: "Did you have a stroke? Vocabulary - Personal. As in my own grown up personal, I don't know, cr**." Sam: "Damn it." Dean: "What? Sam, last I counted you took a year off from the job. I need a day." Ouch! This brother rift needs to end soon.

As Dean drives to Benny, he muses about Purgatory. I muse about where the brother relationship is going. I see no win or purpose. If it doesn't improve soon, I may toss some people in LA like Dean gets tossed in Purgatory. Dean cuts off a monster's head; Benny whistles In the Hall of the Mountain King. It's creepy, foreboding, and surprisingly jaunty - perfect! Love Guy Bee's choice here. More monsters attack so Dean and Benny go into full battle mode. In the present, Sam downs coffee and peruses Kevin's credit card files. Sam: "You are a wascally wabbit Mr. Tran." Ugh that line is awful! He switches to Amelia's files instead. Sam: "Concerned. Not stalking. Concerned." Bwah! Now that's more like it. He's interrupted by a noise and like Sam I get ready for supernatural evil. Instead it's a squeaky fan, which leads to a Sam flashback. He walks into the motel to talk to Everett about using a new credit card since he's staying longer. Everett is the second person to make it sound like Sam ran over the dog on purpose. Really? Have none of you seen a dog run into the street? Bah! The conversation is interrupted by a faulty air conditioner. Sam offers to fix it and Everett offers him a job as a handy man. I'm baffled since we've never seen Sam as a Mr. Fix-It type, usually allowing Dean to repair whatever they need. I like this development. It adds to Sam's characterization instead of relying on his Geek Boy persona to get a job.

Meanwhile, Dean arrives at the Puget Sound and we get a beautiful daylight shot of Baby. Love the Impala porn this year! Dean finds a cooler of AB negative in Benny's truck but Benny's barely alive. Dean: "Benny! Not looking good." Benny: "Up yours." Ha! I like him. By night he's showered, blooded, and good as new to Dean's shock. Benny: "Yeah well a little rest, half a cooler full of AB negative, most wounds short of an amputation will mend up, vampirically speaking." He thanks Dean and tries to vamoose but Dean insists on knowing what's up, complete with a patented "I won't let it go" stare. Benny flashes back to Purgatory with its beheading and blood. Castiel zaps a monster with his Palm Power. I sigh. I hoped at least in Purgatory there'd be no angel powers. Blech. Benny snaps me out though with snark. Benny: "Well I got to admit Dean he's got his strong points, but holy hell if he ain't a magnet." Dean: "Wha…before we found Cas you said it was my humanity that was drawing too much attention." Benny: "Yeah that too." Cas asks for all of us, " If you murder a monster in monster heaven, where does it go?" Hmm. Benny continues his crusade to make me like him best of currently "living" secondary characters. Benny: "And this is the crazy aunt I want to take on the road?" Cas: "I am not your aunt." Benny: "What? Really?" Cas: "I have no possible relationship with to your sibling offspring." Benny: "Now you're kidding me." Dean: "Oh, you two are killing me." He may not love this dialogue but I do. They're entertaining; brother bickering is irksome. Cas agrees with Benny. It's not wise to travel with a seraph. Huh? Was Cas promoted? Whatever. I lost track of all Cas' incarnations. They change him to fit the plot. Benny breaks it down for the audience. "You see you're an intact, living human being stuck in Purgatory's craw. This dimension wants to spit you out which is exactly what's going to power our escape pod. Now I'm pretty sure I can squeeze through too because after all, you take away the fangs and the fun, I was born human too but…." Cas: "I don't think it will work for me." However Dean won't leave a soldier behind and I cheer for Loyal Dean, him I recognize. Dean: "Listen to me you undead blood junkie, I'm the one with the mojo. I'm the one with the plan. Cas, we're going to shove your a** back through the eye of that needle if it kills all three of us." Benny: "Obviously I'm less than comfortable with that." Bwah! Ty Olsson's deadpan delivery sells it.

Back in primetime, Benny explains he's hunting his sire. Dean wonders why. Benny: "Kill him before he kills me. Again." Okay. We awkwardly transition back to Sam who watches a bug get zapped. Foreboding omen maybe? No time to ponder - it's Sam flashback #2. Sam fixes an ice machine and Everett asks him to look at a backed up sink. Surprise, it's Amelia's sink. She freaks out because well, there's a large man in her place when she enters. I'd freak too. For some reason we flip back to Dean and Benny. It'd be nice to get all flashbacks together instead of 10 second increments. These jumps are hard to recap. Dean and Benny find a list of yacht launches and destinations. Benny's nest boards yachts scheduled for long trips to feed and then burn the boats to cover the evidence. Impressive plan, keeps cops and hunters off your trail. Dean: "Vampire pirates. That's what you guys are. Vampirates." Benny: "You know all the years we ran together, I can't believe nobody ever thought of that." Dean: "What do you mean? It's like the third thing you say." Benny: "No it isn't." Ha! Still neither Edlund nor Dean coined the term vampirate. It's a YA book series. Dean steals a dead vamp's cash and figures out where Sire lives. As they head towards Prentiss Island, Benny tells his sad story about the love of a good heiress and their tragic end. Benny explains that sires are like gods to new vamps as he reaches for a leftover blood bag. Dean: "You really have to do that? I mean right now." Benny: "I'm sorry brother. I'm better but I'm still on the mend." Yikes Benny, you're defiling Baby! Benny describes his love Andrea's beauty and Dean snarks, "Seriously. What…was Fabio on the cover of that paperback?" Bwah! I eye rolled the tale too. Sire tracked them down where they were hiding, beheaded Benny, and ripped out Andrea's throat. Not big on romance I guess. Of course, no way Andrea is actually dead. Why have one tragic end to a sappy love story when you can have two?

Dean and Benny pull up to the docks at Prentiss Island, where Dean looks at home jumping from a moving boat to the dock and tying it up. Since when does Dean have boating skills? The brothers get handy, never-heard-of-before talents tonight. Who knew? They walk through a forest that reminds Benny of Purgatory. Dean's too busy texting Sam to really focus, but he changes his mind and erases it. Not sure what the point was but at least it seemed like something Dean would do. Benny's having trouble adjusting 2012 life and actually admits as much to Dean. Wow! That's unusual on this show. Benny: "It's weird being back. The world I mean. Isn't it?" Dean: "It sure as hell is." Benny: "I mean what do you do with it all? All the….all the everything. Hell I don't even know if this world is real. If I'm real." Dean: "Hey listen to me, I've seen what happens down that rabbit hole. Okay. We're real. Benny this is real. It's the only way to play this game. You get me?" This whole conversation reminds me of a less emotionally charged warehouse scene from Hello, Cruel World. They break into the mansion where Benny is distracted by a harpsichord and a photo of Andrea, surprising absolutely no one. In stunning good timing, she walks down the stairs and some vamps knock Benny out. Dean, in the other room, sees it all. Dean: "Idiot." Me: "Bwah!" When Benny comes to, Sorrento threatens him. Dean meanwhile doesn't answer Sam's phone call because he's busy trying to be stealthy.

Sam calls Dean's other other cell to no avail, prompting a continuation of his flashback. Amelia still rages. Amelia: "Why are you fixing my sink?" Sam: "Well because somebody jammed about 800 limes down the drain and blew out the disposal." Idiot! Of course the sink clogged. Sam says he's helping Everett while his dad's sick but Amelia doesn't know the kid's name even though she's lived there 3 MONTHS! Really? Is she hiding from a stalker? The police? What kind of vet with disposable income would live at the kind of motel Dean and Sam inhabit? Sam questions why she's still there but Amelia doesn't think it's strange. Sam: "A motel is not actually part of the town that it's in. It's not part of anywhere." Yikes! That summarizes Sam's view of his life. Amelia harps again, becoming even more unlikeable, as Sam leaves. Jeremy Carver, make Amelia sympathetic so we understand why Sam cares one jot for her. She's too annoying right now. Sam's reverie ends when Dean calls back. Dean: "Why did you call me?" Sam: "Why are you whispering?" Dean: "It's kind of hard to explain right now. I'm sort of in the middle of cleaning out a vampire nest and it's sort of gone a little sideways on me." Sam: "What? You an idiot Dean? You know better than to go into a vamp nest alone." Dean: "I'm not alone damn it. Alright I'm not alone. I've got backup. The guy's been tracking the nest for awhile." Sam: "What guy? Garth?" Dean: "What? No. You don't know him. He's a friend." Sam: "A friend? Dean you don't have any. All your friends are dead." Harsh reality! They don't have many allies left. Still I puzzle over why Sam freaks out. Just 2 episodes ago he said it would be best for Dean to hunt alone so he could hunt without explaining anything to anyone including Sam. Dean essentially took Sam's advice but now Sam flips. What does Sam think will happen when Dean's solo? He'll obviously hunt bigger things than vamps, which he's taken out for a year now. They need to explain where Sam's head's at because how they write him makes absolutely no sense. First one way, then another. Even in the hated demon blood storyline, I knew his reasoning. This Sam baffles me.

Unfortunately it's back to the boredom that is Benny's doomed love life. That's two love stories in a row. Supernatural writers please stop watching Twilight and maybe watch a little SPN instead. I'd be a happier fan. Andrea sends the other vamps to Sire and Benny realizes she outranks them. Benny: "Well sleeping with god has got to have some perks." Ouch! Andrea slaps him but once the other vamps leave it's a sappy reunion - all apologies and forgiveness and complications. And kissing. Benny apologies for Sire turning her. Andrea: "No. It's not your fault. You never hid anything from me Benny. I chose you." Argh! Change your name to Bella and get it over with. At least Andrea has a plan: "Benny I can't kill him. None of us can. But you…you came back from the grave. You're proof that he's not all powerful. That he's not god. He's scared of you Benny, I know it." Benny: "You understand that I came back to burn his operation to the ground. To stop the killing." Andrea: "Do what you came for and we can be together." Awww. This plan is doomed to fail. Andrea gives Benny handcuff keys and a knife as Sorrento enters. On the other side of the house, Sam still yells at Dean: "I get the separate lives thing but this is a hunting thing and we need to find that line…" Dean: "My God, stop talking. I texted you my 20." Egads, that separate lives line kills me. Again logic flies out the window with Sam freaking over Dean hunting alone yet still wanting separate lives. I'm confused but I love Sam showing how worried he is for Dean. Dean on the other hand uses a ticked off Sam as vampire bait, laying the phone in a bowl while he moves off. Sam of course isn't read in on the plan. Sam: "Yeah I got it. Look I'm on my way. And…listen, if…if you handle it, great. I'll buy your friend the first round but Dean listen to me….Dean. Dean are you there? Dean. Dean. You kidding me?" The vamp picks up the phone while Dean cuts off its head. Sadly the phone breaks in the fall and Dean can't tell Sam he's fine. Sam throws the phone. Dean drags off the corpse only to encounter another fang.

I brace for action but nope, it's Benny vs Sire. Benny: "Hello father." Sire: "Benny, I have no words." Benny: "Now I know that ain't true." Bwah! He is the chatty villain type. Sire questions him about hell but Benny says, "Right next door, as far as I could tell." Sire: "Next door? What's that?" Benny: "Oh I think I'll just have to show you." No happy family reunion here. Sire talks regret; Benny asks about Andrea. It's all dramatic but I'm impatient for Benny to chop off his head. Instead Dean chops off two vamps' heads in the coolest shot of the night. Vamps chase Dean to another room. All of a sudden there's blade noises and a vampire head shoots across the hallway. Awesome! Trigger more Purgatory flashbacks. Dean: "What the hell do you know about the value of life? You're a vampire." Benny: "Yep and I think we both know which of our kinds kills more humans." Cas: "Well statistically speaking that'd be yours." Dean: "Yes, thank you Cas." Benny knows Dean is uneasy letting a vampire into the world but he's strictly non-living now. Benny: " I already told you man, by the time I got iced I was strictly on blood transfusions. Donated blood. Not donated to me I'll give you that, but I paid good black market scratch for it." Dean: "So what is that? Like the Vampire Zone diet." Benny: "Look all I'm saying is I started seeing something in humanity okay. Something that shouldn't be taken. I drink blood. I don't drink people." Happy to hear it. Now I hope it's true because the last thing we need is another Ruby. Dean is skeptical but Benny's too frustrated about the unwanted attention Cas is bringing. Cas interrupts them with a Leviathan alert. Cas: "Run!"

They run as present day Sam steals a car and flashes back. Sam: "Oh no Dog, don't bother the angry lady. Uh hey, sorry." Amelia: "Dog? That's what you're calling him." They talk Dog's health. Sam compliments Amelia's stitching, then sad faces that she finds him creepy. Amelia: "You come from nowhere, you appear to be going nowhere, and you've quote seen a lot of stitches. It's all pretty solid creepy." I agree. If I didn't know Dean and Sam, I would find their lifestyle, fake names, and general shiftiness creepy too. Sam calls her on being lonely. Sam: "You have no idea where you're going either do you?" Amelia: "No, not really." Sam: "And it's because you have no one. I mean at all, right? I mean that's why you're here in this place." Amelia: "I used to…have someone I mean, but that's over now. It's gone. You know what that's like don't you." They bond over woeful faces and while Amelia is the most mysterious person this season, I still don't quite like her. Hopefully that changes soon. Sad guitars bring to the present as Sam tries calling Dean again to no avail. He punches the gas past 90 mph to get to Dean quicker and I cheer. We finally get a glimpse of the true Sam again.

Back at the house, Sire is STILL talking. Sire: "I suppose you coming back from the dead…well, that's the definition of mutiny isn't it? All of this has me feeling so tired." Me too buddy. Bad enough you look like Robert Pattison, but at your age you should know to kill first monologue later. Benny: "Really? You live so long, how is it you have so little hmm? Nothing but a beat up old harpsichord and a nest of hyenas." Sire: "I have the sea and I have Andrea." Benny: "No, you don’t have her. Least that much I know." Benny shows Sire the handcuffs and takes down Sorrento: "Where the hell'd you learn to fight like that?" Benny: "I've had a lot of practice." So true. Let's get back to that. No? How sad. Benny drops the knife and begs Sire to engage but he keeps yapping. Sire: "This universe is a pyramid of despair. Nothing else." Benny: "A little dark." Sire: "I am evil after all. At least I've had that much to keep me cold at night." Wow! That's the worst line of the night. It's not even cheesetastic. It's just lame. He calls Benny, "My poor Benjamin" and Benny loses it. He flings Sire against a cabinet but Sire won't fight, playing psychological games instead. Thankfully Benny chops his head off instead. Finally the monologuing ends. Benny emerges with a bloody knife and tells Andrea it's over but she wants to stay. Benny: "You're not leaving here are you? And you never were." Andrea: "We have everything we need right here. The operation is still perfect. We can ride the high seas, plunder together. We can have the life we always wanted." Benny'd rather take the whole place down. Benny: "What I loved, it ain't here anymore. It was snuffed out a long time ago by monsters like me, like what you've become." Andrea: "You think you're better than me now?" Benny: "No, I think we're all damned." Andrea fangs out but Dean comes behind her and one machete chop later it's a second tragic ending to their damned love story. The music swells. So sad. Let's get back to Leviathans.

Or go poolside. Dean and Benny untie the boat but Benny's wrapped in despair. Benny: "Why'd you do it Dean?" Dean: "Do what?" Benny: "Resurrect me. You could have drained my soul into any culvert and no one would have been the wiser." Dean: "What the hell are you talking about? Hey! You good?" Benny: "Man I don’t know what I am." I feel sorry for Benny in a way previous episodes tried to make me feel for their guest characters. Well done Ty Olsson and Jensen Ackles. This scene is powerful, showing how much Dean cares about his vampire friend. Please don't let it be all for naught around episode 16. Still it's a good question so it's back to Purgatory for answers. Levis shoot down like tar cannon balls and reformulate into humanoids. Not sure why they don't keep their natural form but it is the coolest special effects we've had in a long time. Like something out of Terminator. It's the first time I've been excited about Leviathan since the start of season 7. Dean quickly takes one's head off but another pins Cas down. Benny to the rescue and another Levi's beheaded. I'm a big fan of how cool this is. Not a big fan of how easy it is to kill Levis in Purgatory. Really? Minus the stellar entrance, they aren't any harder to kill than vamps. How lame! Dean looks surprised that Benny saved Cas and it's probably the beginning step to Dean trusting him. Not the whole way I'm sure but a start. Anyway, Purgatory is cool so kudos to its abundance tonight.

As the boat pulls to the dock, a very ticked Sam waits. Uh oh! Dean might prefer more Levis to Sam now. I'm confused about why Sam isn't relieved to see Dean at first, but rage radiates off him right from the start. Dean throws the line to Sam who ties up the boat while Dean gets the duffels. Benny introduces himself to Sam. They shake hands and Sam realizes he's a monster immediately. I have no earthly idea how. Lilith believes he checked for a pulse but his fingers are curled like you'd normally shake a hand. Others have surmised that Benny's hands were cold, but mine get really cold even in temperate weather. I'm going with plot device since nothing else makes sense. Sam looks intensely at Dean and slowly goes for his weapon while Benny sadly looks down. Annoying heartbeat music thumps loudly in the background in case we missed the importance. One look at Sam tells us it is. He's shocked and livid. Dean slowly shakes his head no and Sam lets go. Benny: "I can see you two have a lot to talk about." Benny pats Dean on the shoulder in sympathy and walks off. Dean looks straight into the chilliest Sammy ticked face I've ever seen as the scene fades to black. Yikes! Next week will be intense. Before I can dwell longer on that awesome scene, I'm reeling from Sam's characterization again. I've harped on how poorly Sam's been written a lot but really! Sam has always been more gray about monsters, taking a wait and see approach. Last week he was visibly relieved when Dean chose to let Kate go. Why would he take a gank first, question later stance with Benny? He knows Dean trusted him enough to partner with him on this hunt and he can see Benny didn't harm Dean. Dean even called Benny a friend. While I know it puzzles Sam, as it did me at first, I'm not sure how that translates into wanting to kill him before getting the story. This is not Sam at all.

Despite the slowness of Benny's love story and Sam being obviously out of character, I really enjoyed this episode. The direction was brilliant with several shots making me laugh or taking my breath away. Kudos to Guy Bee for such a brilliant job. I liked Benny's back story and loved all the Purgatory flashbacks. I hope Benny and Cas continue bickering with Dean as the fed up parent. Sam's handyman skills were fun; I hope they don't drop that when flashbacks are done. I'd like to see his story come together faster though. Right now I'm leaning toward Amelia having a supernatural stalker and that's why she's hiding. It would explain the shadow outside her home too. Of course since I think that's what will happen it won't, but it's fun to speculate. I also speculate we'll have one major brother blow out coming but that's nowhere near fun. All in all this was BY FAR the best episode of the season so far for me. It gave me back the Supernatural feel I have been lacking while helping to clarify some things. Let's hope they continue in this direction but get rid of the brother rift. Also, keep Benny and don't make him evil. He's an awesome character and Ty Olsson is doing a bang up job portraying him.

PS - There have been waves in the fandom about the boat being named C & D. Some fans are taking it as a shout out to Cas and Dean. Some fans are saying it should be S & D. Rest assured. It's just an inside joke. When Jensen bought his own boat, the crew wanted him to call it The Captain and Danneel. He didn't so they put it in here instead. The confirmation came from Guy Bee himself, director of this episode.

Grade: 2

Scorecard - Here's how the rankings break down in my scorecard.

1 = One of the best episodes in all of Supernatural, or in all of TV for that matter.
2 = A great episode when judged against other Supernatural episodes.
3 = A good Supernatural episode, which means it's better than almost anything else on TV
4 = An okay episode when judged against other SPN episodes, meaning still better than most TV.
5 = A poor episode, meaning only better than some TV.

While this week's Supernatural episode, Blood Brothers, was far less divisive in the fandom than last week's Bitten, Lilith and I came at it from different perspectives and thus had different opinions. I loved it and think it is the best episode of season 8 so far. Lilith was cooler about it. What did you think? Also, don't forget to submit your audio or video files on Bobby, Castiel, and Crowley. We want to know what your favorite episodes and lines are and why you love the characters. You can submit all entries to teamwinchesterpod@gmail.com Thanks for listening!

Disclaimer - As always the opinions on this podcast are merely Lilith and/or Dahne's opinions. They do not reflect the fandom as a whole or SpoilerTV.